Episode 3 Act 2: Here's what you need to know about the new Valorant update

Valorant's next title update - ushering in Episode 3 Act 2 - is due to release later today on September 8th. Here's everything you need to know about what's included and an early set of Patch Notes detailing all of the minor changes coming in the next title update.

RELEASE TIME - When does the new update drop?

At the moment, we don't know for sure when the new Valorant title update is set to release - however, we can look at the last major update as a guideline for when to expect things to start happening.

Riot Games released Episode 3 Act 1 at 06:00 PST / 09:00 EST / 14:00 BST on release day with around four hours of Server Maintenance. With this in mind, we should see Episode 3 Act 2 release around the same time.

We're not sure if Server Maintenance is going to be quite as long, though. The Act 1 Competitive Queue is slated to end at the time specified above, though, so that seems to confirm things... Check out what Riot Games has said in the thread below:

ZEDD SKINS - Artist collabs with Riot Games

EDM Artist Zedd has been working with Riot Games on a new set of Valorant Weapon Skins for some time now and they're finally here!

What makes these unique is that each Weapon Skin also has a Kill Effect attached to it - they're a little more than just colours on your gun. As you can see in the Tweet below, there's a lot of sound and lights when you get a kill with one of Zedd's Spectrum Weapon Skins in Valorant.

The Spectrum Skin Bundle is going to cost you 10,700 VP in-game - if you're still interested in picking it up.

NEW MAP - Fracture is coming to Valorant

In addition to this, there's a new map being added to Valorant - Fracture. This is going to be a map of two halves that should offer up a few more surprises than your average Valorant map.

You can find the Map Teaser below and expect to see more when you jump into Valorant after the Episode 2 Act 3 update:

Riot Games are aiming to rethink the way they design maps and - if Fracture proves popular - we could see much more variety from Valorant maps going forwards.

PATCH NOTES - What's new in Patch 3.05?

Wondering what else is changing? Here's the latest on the Valorant Episode 3 Act 2 Patch Notes - we expect Riot Games to release a fleshed-out version of these soon.

Agent Updates

• Breach Agent Changes
  • Aftershock (C)
    • Now deals damage to the following:
      • Killjoy Alarm Bot
      • Killjoy Nanoswarm
      • Killjoy Lockdown
      • Cypher Tripwire
      • Reyna Leer
      • Sage Barrier Orb
      • Sova Recon Bolt
      • KAY/O Zero/Point
• Brimstone Agent Changes
  • Orbital Strike (X)
    • Now deals damage to the following:
      • Killjoy Nanoswarm
      • Cypher Trapwire
      • Sage Barrier Orb
      • Sova Recon Bolt
      • KAY/O Zero/Point
• Sova Agent Changes
  • Hunter's Fury (X)
    • Now deals damage to the following:
      • Killjoy Nanoswarm
      • Cypher Trapwire
      • Sage Barrier Orb
      • Sova Recon Bolt
      • KAY/O Zero/Point
• Killjoy Agent Changes
  • Turret (E)
    • Bullet tagging reduced 72.5% slow to 29.5% slow
• Raze Agent Changes
  • Boom Bot (C)
    • Max damage reduced 125 >>> 80
    • Min damage reduced 50 >>> 30
    • Cost reduced 400 >>> 300

New Content

• New Multiplayer Map
  • Fracture - You can check out the Official Map Teaser above

New Competitive Changes

• Immortal 1/2/3 rank tiers are back!
  • The Leaderboard will update to distinguish between those of you in each Immortal tier.
• Updated Ranked grouping restrictions to accommodate the return of Immortal 1/2/3:
  • Diamond 1 → Immortal 1
  • Diamond 2 → Immortal 2
  • Diamond 3 → Immortal 3
• Adjusted Competitive ranked distribution
• Fracture the only queue!
  • This queue is a standard, Unrated mode that will give players a chance to practice the new map before they see it in Competitive play.
  • Fracture-only queue will be available for 2 weeks; afterwards, Fracture will enter other modes, including Competitive.

Additional Changes & Updates

• Premium Battlepass Bonus XP
  • Upgrading to the Premium Battlepass will grant a 3% XP boost toward Battlepass tier progression for all matchmade games until the end of Act II
    • This is not retroactive, so upgrading early will give you access to the most amount of XP
    • The XP boost does not apply toward Daily or Weekly Missions
• Social Updates
  • Updated AFK detection logic to deter players from farming Battlepass/Account Levels by AFKing in-game modes like Deathmatch and Snowball Fight
• Performance Updates
  • Updated the ping calculation to exclude the server frame time.
  • Updated markers used by NVIDIA Reflex